


hot chocolate.

by doubleonxthing



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Gen, M/M, alex is tired, and tom buys random mugs just to give alex stuff in it, anyway, future!alex/tom, i barely remember writing most of this, i hate titling stuff, idk - Freeform, idk lmao, teacher!tom, uhh so tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25439200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubleonxthing/pseuds/doubleonxthing
Summary: for spyfest 2020 week 3: "where some people see coincidence, i see conspiracy" (aka tom misses his best friend) crossposted to ff
Relationships: Tom Harris & Alex Rider, Tom Harris/Alex Rider
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57
Collections: Spyfest 2020





	hot chocolate.

**Author's Note:**

> lmao i don't know

Tom’s a little less than halfway through grading his second stack of assignments for the night when a knock on the door startles him into dropping his pen. He lifts the remote and mutes the shitty tv show with too many seasons and too much drama that he only watches when he grades. A glance at his phone tells him it’s almost one am - he could’ve sworn it was just ten.

The person knocks again, and Tom gets up, barely catching himself when he trips on one of his shoes (exactly where he had kicked them off earlier) on the way out of the living room. He has a pretty good idea of who it is, but still, he thinks, looking out of the peephole on his apartment door, he would rather be safe than dead. 

He can’t help but grin as he unlocks his door, opening it to one Alex Rider, who currently looks much too awake and bright for the time of night (not to mention the bandages standing out against his tan skin - he must’ve gone somewhere warm). “Al!”

He steps back, letting Alex in before he throws an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, mate! I’ve been wondering when you were gonna drop by.” 

He leads him to the kitchen, grinning wider than he’d done for a month and a half - the last time Alex had showed up. “Do you want something to eat or something? I have some leftover pasta - it’s the good kind, not the shitty shit Jerry makes - but I’ve also got some frozen stuff. Or, uh, have you already eaten? Oh, I can make tea or, ooh! Hot chocolate. D’you want hot chocolate, Al?”

Alex blinks. He shakes his head and drops into a chair, toeing off his shoes and kicking them under the table. “Yeah, sure, okay. Hot chocolate sounds good.” He drops his head in his heads. “Just.. It’s not that powdered shit, right?”

“Alex, please.” Tom rolls his eyes, reaching for the cupboards. “I do have some standards.” 

Alex snorts, “sure.”

Seven minutes later, they’re walking into the living room. Tom sets down his mug and stacks his abandoned papers to shove them in his bag - yes, he’d told his students that he would’ve graded them and given them back three days ago but he’d just do them later.

“I cannot believe,” Alex raises his mug - a pastel pink one with cartoony unicorns - to his mouth and takes a loud sip, “that you, of all people, became a teacher. A history one too! Tom Harris, the boy who swore he’d never willingly take a step back into a school, a teacher!”

“Well, we can’t all save the world, can we?” Tom makes a face at him and Alex sticks out his tongue. “Besides…” he shrugs, “I just… wanna help kids, y'know?” And to be the type of teacher that you should've had. 

Something must've shown on his face because Alex gives him a smile that's parts proud, grateful, and sad.

“Shut up,” Tom mutters, face reddening. He comes back to the sofa and Alex curls into his side, throwing an arm around him.

“But I didn't say anything!” Alex protests, his face pressed into the side of Tom's neck. 

“Whatever you say, mate.” 

“Okay, but,” Alex looks at him a minute later, eyebrows scrunched. “Don't you get… bored? Like, it's like going to school again except this time you actually have to like, remember everyone's name and like, teach the same thing over and over again. Isn't it boring?”

“Not all of us wanna be James Bond, Al,” Tom says, threading his fingers through Alex's hair. 

“But, like-”

“And we're not all adrenaline junkies,” he says gently, bopping Alex’s nose.

“Shut up and go read your essays,” Alex laughs. He pushes away and reaches for their mugs, the remote to the tv balanced on top his unicorn mug. 

Alex hands him his mug before tucking back into Tom’s side. “Wonder if there’s anything good.” He flips thorough the channels. “Nope, no, what even is that.”

And then his phone buzzes, and the tension that had faded with every moment he spent in the apartment snapping back instantly. Shooting Tom an apologetic look, Alex sets down his mug and leaves, raising the phone to his ear with a cold, “Rider.”

Tom stares blankly at the TV, some movie he’s never heard of playing quietly. He can’t make out any of the conversation - just the quiet, steady (and slightly irritated) voice of his best friend - and he desperately hopes he won’t have to finish his hot chocolate alone.

“Hey,” Alex says, coming into the room a few minutes later. Tom takes one look at his face and knows what he’s gonna say. “Sorry, Tom, but I-”

“Yeah, you have to go. I get it. It’s fine.” He’s disappointed and he hates it - shouldn’t he be used to this by now? Alex is always going to leave and put himself in danger and there was nothing Tom can do and he knows this.

“Sorry,” Alex says again, wincing. He comes to stand at the back of the sofa behind Tom, who looks up at him upside down. “The bank called and there was a murder. It’s kinda unrelated but,” he shrugs, “I have to go in.”

“But what if it’s just a coincidence?” Tom knows it’s pointless to try and convince him to stay, but he doesn’t want Alex to leave yet.

Alex smiles and there’s something bitter in it. “I don’t believe in coincidence. Not anymore. I can’t.”

Tom drags a hand over his face and sighs. “Of course not. Just- be careful, okay?” 

Alex nods and Tom stands and pulls him close and neither of them really want to let go. “See you soon, mate.” 

And then he’s gone, the door shutting silently. Tom drops back to the couch, glancing at Alex’s abandoned mug - the unicorns looking far too happy - and sighs loudly. Maybe he will get those papers graded tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> ahaha oops? (consider leaving a review?)


End file.
